AN: Hi everyone! This is my first Hermione/Fleur story, so I hope you like it. I really adore this pairing. Enjoy~

Disclaimer: I own nothing except my OCs. Don't sue me! lolz.

Chapter One

Today is just going to turn out to be one of those days, Hermione thought. After having woken up late, she tripped over Crookshanks and knocked over a bookshelf, scattering books all over the floor of her flat. Then she somehow managed to burn her toast while spilling orange juice all over her favorite shirt. And if that wasn't stressful enough, she started the first day of her internship at the Ministry of Magic in twenty minutes. I'll make a great first impression with my clumsiness today: "Hello, good sir—oh dear I seem to have spilt your coffee all over those important, irreplaceable documents, I beg your pardon—So anyways, it's very nice to finally meet you, my name is Hermione Granger and I'll be interning here for the next six months."

She sighed, looking over to where Crookshanks had darted behind the couch. Even he knew to stay away from her. "Quite a day, indeed." She muttered to herself. She was so busy scrambling to get ready (and to clean up the books off the floor by hand; after all, books should be treated with extra care) she didn't even notice the loud crack that came from the kitchen.

"Hey 'Mione!" Ron called, "Are you ready for your first day?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. She really didn't need any distractions right now. "I thought I told you to Apparate outside my flat, Ronald."

He shrugged and watched her for a moment while she was placing the last of her books back on the shelf (by order of subject, author, and date of publishing). "C'mon 'Mione, you know we've been together for at least eight months now. I think that I have a right to visit you when I feel like it."

Hermione just sighed in response. Fighting would be pointless right now, not to mention counter productive to her current time constraints. So instead she went into her room to change her clothes and fix her hair. She looked much more presentable by the time she walked back into the kitchen. Ron was inspecting the contents of her refrigerator. What a shock. Does he ever think of anything besides food, Quidditch, and women?

"I'm leaving now, Ronald." She said as she grabbed her coat and handbag (she had placed an Undetectable Extension Charm on it to carry her things). Ron looked up and closed the door to her refrigerator, sauntering over to her. "How about a kiss goodbye then?" he asked, already leaning in.

Hermione turned away at the last minute, which resulted in him kissing her cheek. "I don't have time Ronald, I'm going to be late."

She spun around and Disapparated all while wondering why she had turned away when he tried to kiss her. Ron was her boyfriend and she had been pining over him for three years, right? So then…why? She'd be sure to find an (excuse) explanation for her actions later.

When Hermione arrived at the Ministry of Magic, she quickly made her way to the Atrium, where she spotted the words "All New Interns, Please Assemble Here" shimmering in the air and hovering over a group of people who, Hermione surmised, were also there to begin their internships. One of the young men looked at her as she made her way towards them.

"Uh, hi." He said shyly, "I'm Terrance. You wouldn't happen to be Hermione Granger, would you?"

A majority of the intern group paused in their conversations and turned to stare at her with awe. Excited murmurs of "It really is her!" and "Wow, I can't believe she's really here!" rippled through the crowd.

Even though the war had ended over ten months ago, Hermione still hadn't quite gotten used to the attention. She felt her face get hot, but managed to reply confidently.

"It is nice to meet you, Terrance." She spoke with a polite, even tone. "Yes, I am Hermione Granger. However, I am no more special than anyone else here, so I'd appreciate not to be made into a spectacle."

At this, everyone in the group sheepishly turned back to their conversations.

Terrance looked at her apologetically, his black hair falling over his eyes. He kind of reminded her of Harry, his eyes were a similar hazel green.

"I'm sorry," he said, "I didn't mean to draw attention to you. It's just…well, you and the others saved my little sister during the final battle. I just wanted to thank you for that." He was staring at his feet when he finished, his cheeks slightly pink. Hermione thought it was kind of cute, actually. Then she felt a twinge of guilt for being so blunt.

"No, please don't apologize. I suppose I'm just a little frazzled this morning, and I really don't enjoy hero-worship anyway..."

Terrance smiled. "Noted," then he added with a touch of humor in his voice, "Rough morning I take it, then?"

Hermione just sighed and rolled her eyes with exasperation. "You don't know the half of it." Then she allowed herself a small smile.

When they returned their attention back to the crowd, everyone was being divided into groups of three and ushered into separate rooms off to the side. Hermione was happy that Terrance had been placed into her group. At least she had one potential friend to look forward to.

The other member was a small, frail looking girl with deep auburn hair that was pulled back into a messy bun. Large, thick glasses sat in front of her wide blue eyes, and freckles dusted themselves across her nose and cheeks. The poor thing looked terribly nervous; Hermione could've sworn she'd seen the girl tremble slightly inside the large knit sweater she'd been wearing.

The room that they were corralled into appeared to be a sitting room of sorts, almost like a lounge. A coffee table sat comfortably in the center of the room with a few chairs and a sofa placed around it.

Hermione sat in one of the chairs, while Terrance seated himself across from her on the sofa. The nervous girl stood, her gaze glued to the floor. Silence loomed over them.

"So," Terrance spoke suddenly, "I guess we've been grouped up, or something right?"

Hermione nodded. "I think this means that we'll all be interning on the same floor at the Ministry."

She knew that each floor had been designated for a specific department, and she had noticed that the number of intern groups had matched the number of departments. It wasn't too difficult to put two and two together after that.

Terrance looked at the nervous girl for a moment, before slowly rising and walking over to her. "Um, hello there." He greeted somewhat awkwardly.

The girl's eyes snapped up to meet his, her expression slightly startled. "H-Hi." She said softly. Her voice was so quiet Hermione had to strain her ears to hear it.

"So um," Terrance began, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck, "My name's Terrance Camellia, and," he turned to look at Hermione, who took her cue to stand and introduce herself.

"And I am Hermione Granger," she greeted, holding her hand out for the nervous girl to shake, "It's very nice to meet you."

The auburn haired girl stared at the offered hand for a few moments before shyly taking it. "M-My name is Phoebe," she said quietly, "Phoebe Rose. I-It's nice to meet you as well." By the end of her introduction, her face resembled the color of her auburn hair.

Terrance smiled, shaking her hand next. "Phoebe Rose, huh? That's a pretty name. Hey, did you notice that both your surname and my surname are named after flowers? Kind of cool, right?"

Phoebe stared at him, and Hermione could see the faintest of smiles touch her lips.

Just then the door to the room opened, and an elderly man stepped into the room. He was a tall yet slightly hunched over man with an abnormally long pointy nose and a balding head with white tufts of hair sticking out oddly on either side of his head. His eyes were an unnerving shade of yellow. He approached the three and extended a wrinkly spider-like hand out toward them. For some reason this made Hermione inwardly cringe.

"Hello, you three," he spoke in a gravelly voice, "I am in charge of the internship program here at the ministry, among other things. You may call me Mr. Malik."

Phoebe took a timid step behind Terrance, and Hermione looked at the offered hand with silent unease. It seemed foreboding somehow. Terrance seemed to silently agree, because he narrowed his eyes at it.

"So who are we interning for?" Terrance asked.

Mr. Malik retracted his hand, reaching into his coat pocket and removing three small cards from it. "You are all going to be interning on the fourth floor, The Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures," he handed each of them a card, "You are to report to the room written on your assignment card."

Without another word, he left the room.

"Well," Hermione sighed, "This is where it all begins, isn't it?"

The other two nodded in silent agreement.

When they stepped out of the elevator and onto the 4th floor, Hermione looked at her assignment card. It read: "Room 4-24; Being Division". Well, alright then, she thought.

"Being division, huh?" Terrance spoke over her shoulder, "I got assigned Spirit Division. What about you, Phoebe?"

The girl in question looked down at her card and frowned. "Beast division." She mumbled.

Terrance patted her on the back affectionately. "Don't be so glum! I hear that division's really fun! It has unicorns, right? Better than mine, anyway."

Phoebe smiled at him for a moment, and then she began to walk down one of the three branching hallways towards her post.

Terrance turned back to Hermione once she was out of view. "She's kind of cute isn't she?" he said with a slight blush, "In a lost kitten sort of way…"

Hermione playfully rolled her eyes. "Why don't you just ask her out for coffee or something then?"

Terrance sputtered and stared at the ground, his face turning nine different shades of red. "O-Oh, well, um, I don't think she'd, uh, want, um—A-Anyway! We are going to be late for the, uh, the thing, uh, the internship thing! Yeah, so, see you later Hermione!"

He bolted off in a random direction, leaving Hermione to watch him leave with an entirely amused smile. She was just about to go to her assigned post herself when she heard footsteps approaching her from behind. She turned to see an out of breath Terrance.

"Wrong…*wheeze*…Wrong way…" Terrance panted, his hands resting on his knees to steady himself. When he finally caught his breath, he bid Hermione goodbye once again before leaving down a different hallway. This time Hermione laughed heartily as he left.

"Now then," Hermione said quietly to herself, "I had better find my way as well."

From what Hermione had seen (memorized) of the floor plan of the Ministry, all she needed to do was follow the hallway Terrance had initially sprinted down. Of course, she would be calmly walking down it, like any mature adult would do.

Hermione began to wonder whom she would be working for. A few frightening images came to mind, all baring an odd resemblance to Mr. Malik. Or maybe they wouldn't be human at all! Maybe she'd end up working for a beastly sort of creature, like a scary manticore. Then she laughed at her exaggerated thoughts because she knew with absolute certainty that the Ministry did not employ manticores. Or at least she hoped not.

By the time Hermione was standing in front of the door to Room 4-24 of the Being Division, her nerves had escalated quite a bit. Her hand shook slightly as she reached for the knob, and she tried to calm herself by mentally reciting the many different properties of dragon's blood.

The room she entered appeared to be some kind of office, with a large lounge space off to the side. Unlike the previous lounge, this one was very tastefully furnished. Warm, earthen hues bathed the room with a calm sophistication. Elegantly crafted furniture was arranged in a very practical, yet somehow intimate way. The office was decorated in a similar manor. All in all, the entire room felt very…sensual.

Hermione took a few steps into the office and felt slightly out of place. Whoever this person was, they had very mature tastes. Not that Hermione minded. In fact, she quite liked the décor, if she were to be perfectly honest with herself.

Hermione was actually beginning to wonder where her assigned boss was when, the big chair sitting at the desk suddenly swiveled around.

"It 'az been a while, 'Ermione."

"Fleur!?"

Hope you all enjoyed that little cliff hanger. Fear not! The next chapter is already done. ; )